Peter A. Hastie

Sport Education, Tactical Games, and Cooperative Learning: Theoretical and Pedagogical Considerations

The purpose of this article is to present Sport Education, Tactical Games, and Cooperative Learning as valuable instructional models in physical education. Situated learning is used as a theoretical framework and connection between Sport Education, Tactical Games, and Cooperative Learning. The structures of Sport Education, Tactical Games, and Cooperative Learning allow for participation to occur in a student-centered learning curriculum as opposed to a teacher-centered teaching curriculum. The teacher facilitates learning activities that have the potential to provide students with a holistic education that promotes social, physical, and cognitive learning outcomes. The emphasis is on active learning that involves the processes of decision making, social interaction, and cognitive understanding for students.

Influence of occupational socialization on beginning teachers’ interpretation and delivery of sport education

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which newly qualified teachers employed the Sport Education (SE) model. In addition, we attempted to discover factors that led to and facilitated beginning teachers employing the model and those that did not. Participants were six American and four British beginning teachers. Data were collected by formally interviewing each teacher. Analysis procedures employed were analytic induction and constant comparison. Occupational socialization was the theoretical framework that guided data collection and analysis procedures. The results indicated that teachers interpreted and delivered SE in one of three different ways: full version, watered down version and cafeteria style. Moreover, the teachers’ acculturation, professional socialization and organizational socialization largely explained why teachers interpreted and delivered SE as they did.

An Ecological Perspective on Physical Education

This paper reviews the use of the classroom ecology paradigm in teaching research in physical education. The review traces the development of a research program beginning in the United States at the Ohio State University, through the development of more sophisticated techniques, to answer the following key question:‘Why do some physical education classes seem so remarkably alive with learning potential and others seem so devoid of that very characteristic?’The classroom ecology paradigm examines the collective life of teachers and students as interaction among three interrelated systems (managerial, instructional, and student social) in which change in one system has distinct repercussions for the development of the others. Central to this representation is the issue of accountability, and this review provides a longitudinal account of research relating to this feature of the paradigm.The major findings of this review present a picture of physical education in which considerable negotiation takes place within many classes, where teachers trade off a reduction in the demands of the instructional system for cooperation in the management system.What accountability remains focuses primarily on orderly management, student cooperation, and at least minimal effort in activity tasks.Lack of alignment between unit objectives,practice tasks, and accountability measures accounts for typically poor student performance. Instructional ecologies at the elementary school level are more rigorous than at the secondary level. Finally, this review provides suggestions for future research in physical education, urging a focus more on student responses than teacher actions in our efforts to understand instructional effectiveness.

Motivational climate and fundamental motor skill performance in a naturalistic physical education setting

Background: The literature on motivation suggests that student learning and performance is influenced by the motivational climate, and that positive benefits can be derived from exposure to a mastery motivational climate. Nonetheless, to date, only a few studies have attempted to investigate a mastery motivational climate in a naturalistic setting with young children. Purpose: To examine the influence of a mastery motivational climate intervention on childrens motor skill performance in a naturalistic setting, with the hypothesis that children exposed to the mastery motivational climate physical education intervention would achieve greater improvement in motor skill development than students who experienced a low autonomy climate physical education intervention. Participants and setting: 64 kindergarten children at two separate schools in the rural south of the USA. Research design: A pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design was used due to the lack of random assignment of participants to groups. Intact classes at two schools were assigned to group. Each motor skill program consisted of 30, 30-minute lessons during a six-week period. Data collection: Fundamental motor skill performance was measured using Ulrichs Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2). The TGMD-2 was administered three separate times: first, at the beginning of the school year (Pretest 1), second, after six weeks of school just prior to the intervention (Pretest 2), and finally, at the end of the six-week intervention period (Posttest). Data analysis: Two separate 2 × 2 (Group × Time) ANOVAs with repeated measures on the last factor were used to determine if children exposed to the motor skill interventions experienced significant positive changes in motor skill performance on the TGMD-2 sub-scales for locomotor and object control motor skills. Findings: Results indicated significant Group × Time interactions for the locomotor sub-scale (p = .001) and the object control sub-scale (p = .001). The mastery group improved significantly from pre- to post-intervention for locomotor and object control skills, while the low-autonomy group did not. Conclusions: The results provide evidence that a mastery motivational climate can have a positive impact on childrens fundamental motor skill performance and suggest that even young children who are in the initial stages of motor skill performance can benefit from a self-directed climate.

Teaching Responsibility through Sport Education: Prospects of a Coalition

Abstract The purpose of this study was to provide a databased analysis of a combined sport model and from this to develop a theory from practice. In particular, the original concern was to examine the extent to which the teaching of personal and social responsibility (TPSR) could form a coalition with the Sport Education model. Forty-five 6th-grade boys, who had a previous history of struggling with the fair play requirements of Sport Education, participated in a 26-lesson season of Xball, an invasion game designed by those students. As a general summary, it was found that some of the features of TPSR strengthened the foundation of Sport Education, but due to the need to introduce new tasks and problems for students, a hybrid model (Empowering Sport) was developed. This hybrid, with a predominately ecological integration perspective, presents a curriculum model that allows for achievement within a powerful triangle of goals—sport skill competence, social responsibility, and personal empowerment.

Russian students’ participation in and perceptions of a season of Sport Education

This study examined the participation and perceptions of a cohort of sixth-grade Russian students as they participated in a season of basketball that followed a Sport Education format. Thirty-seven students from two classes completed 18-lesson seasons. Throughout the initial skills practice sessions and practice games, as well as the formal competition phase, students of both genders and skill levels spent most of their lesson time actively engaged in motor tasks. The students also demonstrated significant competence in the officiating and coaching roles associated with the season. In interviews during and following the season, the students commented that they found the season to be particularly interesting, that they enjoyed having student coaches and that they developed significant team affiliation. Questionnaire data confirmed that students believed they had made significant gains in their skill and understanding of basketball. These findings are discussed within the context of self-determination theory.

The development of skill and tactical competencies during a season of badminton

Abstract In this study, we examined the development of skill competence and tactical knowledge of 41 eighth-grade students (mean age 13.6 years) as they completed a season of badminton conducted following the features of Sport Education. Using data from students’ performance on badminton skills tests, their competence in game play, and their tactical knowledge, it was determined that these students made significant improvements in their ability to not only control the shuttle, but also to hit it more aggressively. This resulted in improvements in both the selection (what shot to make) and execution (ability to produce the desired shot) dimensions of their game play. In addition, the students demonstrated significant improvements in their ability to select tactical solutions and make arguments for those decisions when watching videotaped performances of badminton games. The key explanation for the development of competence in this setting was that the structure of the Sport Education season allowed for significant practice opportunities, and that the authenticity and consequential nature of the game play helped move all but weak novice students from a more cooperative version of net-game play to one where tactical decision making and execution was valued.

A Comparison of Rugby Seasons Presented in Traditional and Sport Education Formats

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact that two instructional approaches to teaching rugby had on students’ learning, enjoyment and affect. Fifty-three boys (aged 12-13) from a large metropolitan private boy’s school in eastern Australia participated in either a 20 lesson unit of rugby union taught using a skill-drill-game approach (n = 26), or a 20 lesson season following the sport education model (n = 27). The results indicated that both groups made significant improvements in their knowledge of the game as well as their skill. In addition, the students in sport education showed significant gains in perceived learning and also reported that they developed a better understanding of the game. The differences between the two conditions can be explained by the increased affiliation and feelings of belonging and membership offered in the sport education condition.

The Impact of a Hybrid Sport Education: Invasion Games Competence Model Soccer Unit on Students’ Decision Making, Skill Execution and Overall Game Performance

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a hybrid Sport Education–Invasion Games Competence Model (SE-IGCM) unit application on students’ improvements in decision making, skill execution and overall game performance, during a soccer season. Twenty-six fifth-grade students from a Portuguese public elementary school participated in a 22-lesson season, in which pre-test, post-test and retention test measures were analyzed through the instrument developed by Blomqvist et al. (2005). Results showed that teaching a soccer unit in a SE environment sustained by the learning tasks structure provided by the IGCM offered students a chance to improve skill execution, as well their tactical decision making. The overall results showed a strong impact on students’ learning, especially for girls and low skill-level students, fostered by the equitable participation. The retention test was particularly important to assess gains of students of all skill levels, particularly the low-skilled students.

A motivational analysis of a season of Sport Education

Background: The Sport Education curriculum model with its goals to develop competent, literate and enthusiastic sportspersons has been gaining popularity across the globe. To date, studies have yet to investigate the objective motivational climate of Sport Education. Aims: The purpose of this study was to measure and describe the objective motivational climate of a Sport Education season conducted in a Russian school. Method: The participants in this study were 21 ninth-grade Russian students (12 boys and 9 girls) who did not have any previous experience with Sport Education. The teacher in the study was a Russian native who had 4 years of experience teaching and researching Sport Education in schools and colleges across the USA and Russia. The study took place in a public coeducational school located in a city (population 300,000) in the central part of Russia. Classes met three times a week for the entire academic quarter (6 weeks) for a total of 18 lessons, and each lesson was scheduled for 40 minutes. The TARGET (task, authority, recognition and evaluation, grouping and timing) motivational climate variables were collected by analyzing the video of every lesson. The data collection protocol included identifying and coding ‘mastery’, ‘neither’, and ‘performance’ variables of each TARGET structure. The computerized software, BEST, used in data collection allowed recordings of multiple and overlapping frequency behaviors as well duration behaviors. Following the protocol of Morgan and colleagues, the mean percentage of ‘mastery’, ‘performance’ and ‘neither’ teaching behaviors were calculated for each of the TARGET categories individually in each phase of the Sport Education season (skill practice, practice competition, formal competition) as well as the total for the entire season. The mean percentages of frequency of coded behaviors for task, recognition/evaluation, and timing were calculated, whereas mean percentages of duration of coded behaviors were calculated for the authority, grouping and time structures of TARGET. Results: The results of video analysis demonstrated that this Sport Education season had more mastery-oriented and less performance-oriented teacher behaviors. The objective motivational climate of skill practice and practice competition phase had more of a mastery-oriented climate, while performance TARGET behaviors in the competition phase were more prevalent. Conclusion: The overall objective motivational climate of this Sport Education season was neither mastery-oriented nor performance-oriented, but rather an intermingling of the two approaches. Consequently, teachers must be cognizant of the motivational climate and understand which elements in Sport Education contribute to the mastery climate and which to performance climate. Since a mastery climate is positively related to a range of positive student outcomes, it is crucial to stay true to the model when teaching, recognize the elements that contribute to performance orientation, and when possible, emphasize mastery structures. One of the ways of promoting mastery structures in Sport Education seems to be in increasing the mastery-oriented teacher behaviors in evaluation and recognition structures.